HOOVER, Alabama -- For Brandon Moore, this is as normal as it gets: Leave his home in St. Clair County in the morning, take his sons to school, head to the office and return home after midnight.

Sounds like a hardship, but for the Birmingham Barons hitting coach, it's close to heaven. Because it's a more normal life than most minor-league coaches get to have.

"To do what we do, our family takes the brunt of not having us around dur­ing the summer months," Moore said.

"You miss so much while working that it's been a blessing to be a part of what the kids and my wife go through. Just to be out there and see them is re­warding."

Most years, Moore would get a few weeks off during summer vacation - - after his sons finished playing youth baseball - - with the entire family in places such as Lynchburg, Va., and Altoona and State College, Pa.

But a chance to return to the Chi­cago White Sox organization allowed the 39-year-old Springville native to live at home for the entire sea­son.

A one-time White Sox pros­pect, Moore played seven sea­sons in the orga­nization after earning All-SEC honors as an Au­burn infielder and becoming the first SEC player to record 300 hits and 900 at-bats in a ca­reer.

His White Sox trajectory included two stops with the Barons as a player, before stalling in Triple-A.

He was pondering his future when the White Sox made an offer to provide long-term security.

"At that time, I was nearing the end of my career. I was in my third season in Triple-A," Moore said. "They actu­ally told me I could come back and play as long as I wanted to, but, then, they offered the coaching job.

"Kerri, my wife, and I had just had Brody (their eldest child). The thought of getting paid year round really came in to play, especially with the benefits. Kerri had a wonderful job as an RN, but we felt it was time and this is what I wanted to do anyway."

Moore spent two seasons as the hit­ting coach with Rookie League Bristol, and then moved on to Low-A Kanna­polis for a season. Then the Pittsburgh Pirates hired him away for seven years.

Back with the White Sox, Moore has tutored a Barons lineup that's not rated among the Southern League's best in terms of prospects, but has made steady progress. The Barons rank third in the league in hitting and returned to Regions Park on Sunday fresh off a series at Tennessee in which they smoked the Smokies for 40 runs over five games. They put up 20 runs in a three-game sweep of Huntsville that ended Tuesday night.

"They've all gotten better in their own way, which is fun to watch," said Moore. "Some of these guys have come a long way. To their credit, they've worked hard to get where they are.

"As we go through this, the ultimate goal is to develop them for Chicago, not for the Birmingham Barons. Give them something they can build on and can keep building on."

The bonus is that he has gotten to see his two sons progress as students and athletes, sitting in the baseball stands next to Kerri, his childhood sweetheart.

Brody is the eldest at 11.

Braden is 8.

"I got to see Braden play about four times. Brody, I got to see him play four or five times, maybe six. It's been really nice," Moore said.

Those scattered opportunities are treasured. They make the long hours at the ballpark - - his family is asleep when he gets home each night -- worth the sacrifice. And if Moore wants sleep, he can get it when the Barons are on the road.

After 12 seasons of living out of a suitcase every summer, it's nice to be home.